While professional and big-name college basketball stars get most of the attention and adoration of fans, America’s wheelchair basketball players are ranked among the best in the world and are quietly taking home top honors at international competitions.

To give local residents a taste of the high caliber of talent among the country’s best Paralympic athletes, several of the country’s best wheelchair basketball players will be in Springfield as part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2010 Enshrinement festivities. Six members of the men’s and women’s USA Paralympic National Team will demonstrate their talents and show the public how the wheelchair game of basketball is played.

Beginning at 1 p.m. on Monday, The Hartford will present a special Paralympic basketball clinic on Center Court at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

“We’ll have six Paralympic athletes, doing a demonstration of wheelchair basketball in a three-on-three game,” said Paul Lambert, vice president of Guest Experience and Programming for the Hall of Fame. “The athleticism and skill of these folks is amazing – it’s remarkable what they can do.”

Paralympic athletes are Olympic level athletes with various disabilities, such as limb amputations, spinal cord injuries or visual disabilities. They are part of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Many have trained in their sports for several years, often since before they suffered their debilitating injury. The six players scheduled to appear include Paul Schulte, Alana Nichols, Carlee Hoffman, Jeremy Lade, Matt Lesparence, and Jeff Glasbrenner.

“They’re just like Olympic athletes – they have to train every day for four years to make the Olympic team,” said John F. Carideo, assistant director of Brand Development and Program Management at The Hartford.

Following the three-on-three scrimmage, the athletes will be divided up and will run stations on various basketball skills such as dribbling, passing, shooting and simply getting around the court in the sport wheelchair. Disabled children and adults and able-bodied people are invited to participate.

After the clinic, the athletes will play another game, this time with their teams supplemented by folks who just went through the clinic.

That will be followed up by a forum in which the athletes will talk a little about their backgrounds.

“They’ll talk about how the became disabled and how they were able to adapt,” Carideo said. “Why did they pick wheelchair basketball? Every story is different. In many cases, they were athletes before (they became disabled), and in others, they’ve discovered an outlet.”

Carideo said he hopes children who use wheelchairs come out and meet the athletes, because it can be a life-changing experience for children who aren’t used to being around so many others in wheelchairs. And the lessons learned are not always about basketball.

“Our athletes are all about independence,” he said. “They can show these kids how you can get into a building, even if it doesn’t have a ramp, and in essence, become an independent person who happens to be a wheelchair.”

The USA wheelchair basketball national teams have been making a name for themselves around the world in recent years. Just a few weeks ago, the women’s team took the gold at the World Championships in Birmingham, England, and the men took home the bronze.

To highlight some of the accomplishments of Paralympic athletes, the Hall of Fame and The Hartford are teaming up to enlarge the current Paralympic exhibit at the Hall.

“There is a small exhibit, but with this program, they’ve asked us to get some memorabilia,” Carideo said. “There will be a presentation from the U.S. Olympic Committee to the Hall of Fame, and we’re hoping there will be a much bigger exhibit about Paralympic basketball.”

Hall of Fame President and CEO John Doleva said he’s excited about the possibility of the expanded exhibit, which is in the planning stages.

“The fact that team will be here at the Hall of Fame is a great way to bring the opportunity alive if you will, and will be able to foster an expanded exhibit here,” Doleva said. “This event shows how playable this game is – it works for disabled people, and it’s played around the world. It has grown significantly in 117 years.”